‘RULE: THREE SISTERS, THREE DEADLY SECRETS, ONLY ONE CAN WEAR THE CROWN’
Local author’s fantasy series debuts
In her debut novel, “Rule,” author Ellen Goodlett wastes no time introducing the main characters and the path they will travel.
Ms. Goodlett, a native Pittsburgher, former Post-Gazette book reviewer and “digital nomad,” has created a young adult fantasy world where people possess superpowers that are tapped into by a stroke of a knife upon their skin.
The three young protagonists, Zofi, Florencia and Akeylah, use these powers and their own individual personalities to forge a bond even as they vie to capture the crown in their kingdom.
“Rule” embraces comparisons to the already well-established young adult series “Three Dark Crowns.” The publisher is marketing “Rule” as “’Three Dark Crowns’ meets ‘Pretty Little Liars.’” The similarities abound: three young women with special powers vie for a crown while intrigue, betrayal and romance lurk around every castle corner.
But “Rule” is its own particular blend of adventure, suspense and PG-13 sexuality. The three main characters, commoners all and strangers to each other, are summoned to Kolonya, capital of the realm. To their shock, they learn that they are the illegitimate heirs to the throne of the dying king. They are commanded to prove their worth; one of them will become the rightful heir and ascend to the throne.
Each young woman possesses her own unique abilities, suitors and ruinous secrets. They strive, initially against each other, but ultimately unite against common enemies, to conceal their individual heinous deeds because — if they become public — each woman’s chance of survival is imperiled.
With a three-chapter rotation cycle (Zofi, Florencia, Akeylah), “Rule” is initially confusing. But once the reader becomes accustomed to the revolving narrative style, the story becomes well-paced and easy to follow, albeit at times predictable.
If an event happens to one of the would-be heirs, whether it’s a clandestine meeting with a romantic partner or a dawning suspicion that there is an enemy trying to blackmail her, then it’s likely that a similar event will happen to the other two protagonists sometime during the next few chapters. Happily, especially toward the end of the novel, Ms. Goodlett departs from this formula and allows events to fluidly unfold.
One of the novel’s primary strengths is its descriptive passages. The author skillfully conveys, in simply phrased, clear sentences, the castle settings, the battles fought, the furtive romantic encounters. During an angry conversation between Zofi and her more-than-friend Elex, he “shoved the curtain open to glare at the city outside. It looked peaceful in the evening light. Quaint terracotta rooftops, sleepy jungle trees beyond.” Then a new paragraph that simply says, “Appearances were deceptive.”
Particularly noteworthy is Ms. Goodlett’s imaginative creation of the Arts, and her commendable ability to convey the unknowable. The citizens of this realm are endowed with special powers, the Blood Arts and their evil counterpart the Vulgar Arts. The Arts enhance; with a flick of a knife, a person’s ordinary abilities become extraordinary.
Although it is safe to assume that no reader possesses these powers, the author describes them so effectively that the reader can vicariously feel them. “The Arts tasted green, smelled like adrenaline, sounded cold. … Tonight Zofi harnessed that cold green adrenaline like threading a mental needle.”
“Rule” is the first book of what is being touted as a two-part series. To entice and maintain reader loyalty, Ms. Goodlett must continue forging a compelling path for her protagonists. In some ways, plot, having been sufficiently established in the first book, becomes irrelevant; readers return to a series when they are intrigued.
We already know the basics of this tale. What becomes important is how well the tale is told going forward. “Rise” comes out in spring 2019.